The company, which for years dominated the energy trading market, has budgeted turnover of RON380 million for this year, down 40% on last year. Energy Holding’s 2012 turnover also fell by almost 14% against 2011.
“Energy Holding has budgeted a turnover of RON380 million for this year for the delivery of electricity. According to the company’s financial statements, the termination of the contract by Euro Insol (the judicial administrator of Hidroelectrica during its insolvency), combined with lower deliveries during the force majeure period, caused losses estimated at over RON110 million for 2012,” company representatives explain.
Last year Energy Holding had losses of RON156.3 million (EUR35 million), down from RON34.5 million (EUR8 million) in 2011. The trader deepened its losses last year mainly because it lost its contract with Hidroelectrica.
Energy Holding signed at the beginning of 2004 one of the largest direct acquisition contracts for hydro power in Romania at less than the market price.
Based on this contract with Hidroelectrica, the cheapest producer of energy in Romania, the business of Energy Holding prospered year after year, with the company becoming the leading private energy trader in Romania, whereas Hidroelectrica went insolvent.
Last year, shortly after Hidroelectrica was declared insolvent, the judicial administrator terminated six out of the company’s ten direct contracts, with the six including the contract with Energy Holding. Hidroelectrica has recently stepped out of insolvency.
According to Euro Insol calculations, between 2006 and 2012 the contract with Energy Holding caused Hidroelectrica losses of RON1.4 billion, with the amount being calculated as a difference between the price collected by the state-run producer and the energy price on the market. The energy bought from Hidroelectrica went on to be sold to major industrial consumers.
Other traders such as Energy Financing Team Romania, Alpiq RomIndustries and Alpiq RomEnergie also had direct contracts with Hidroelectrica, which they in turn lost last year.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)